Outdoor Columnists

Chris Weidner: The Access Fund and the land of the free

The Access Fund Jeep Conservation Team leads volunteers at a trail-building project at Jailhouse Rock in Sonora, Calif.

The United States of America boasts some of the most diverse climbing of any country in the world.

From Alaska to Hawaii and the lower 48, nowhere else offers such a mixed bag of terrain: high-altitude, icy peaks in Denali National Park; cracked, sandstone towers of the Utah desert; and unrivaled Yosemite Valley, the benchmark to which every granite cliff on Earth is compared.

We're lucky to be climbers in the U.S.A.

Ironically, I've heard many foreign climbers balk at our nickname, the "land of the free." Why? Because they're shocked by the extent of America's rules, regulations, fees and closures regarding climbing and outdoor recreation.

The pros and cons of how we govern our public lands are complex, but that explains the necessity for national organizations that represent America's myriad user groups who compete for the land.

The Boulder-based Access Fund (accessfund.org) is America's advocacy organization for climbers, and the only organization solely dedicated to keeping climbing areas open. The Access Fund represents climber interests by working with federal, state and local officials, local climbing organizations and land managers to develop climbing management policies for public and private lands.

Brady Robinson, executive director of the Access Fund, is a charismatic climber and conservationist. I've known few people who love their job as much as he seems to.

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In a phone conversation Monday, I asked him to sum up what the Access Fund is all about. He said, "Our mission is to keep climbing areas open and conserved. Open means public access, and conserved means well-taken care of."

The Access Fund, he said, envisions a world where climbers are seen as stewards of the land versus simply users of the land. He continued, "To this end, we advocate for a balance between recreational access and environmental conservation."

Chris Weidner
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PAUL AIKEN
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While climbing is a historic and legitimate use of America's public land, it's not as well understood as other recreational activities like mountain biking or horseback riding. When issues such as liability, raptor nesting or user impact surface, the knee-jerk reaction of land managers is often to prohibit climbing access.

In these common situations, the Access Fund is our voice. And our voice is being heard.

"One of the coolest things that's happened in the past few years with the Access Fund is that we're part of the greater movement called Human-Powered Outdoor Recreation through the Outdoor Alliance," said Robinson. "We've teamed up with mountain bikers, hikers, boaters and backcountry skiers to advocate for national policy for outdoor sports." In other words, climbers are becoming legitimate in the eyes of the public and the government.

One way our legitimacy has manifested was in Obama's Presidential Proclamation last month, when he specifically cited rock climbing as an example of what Americans can be doing on our public land.

"That's a big deal," Robinson said. Especially considering that, as recently as 1954, it was illegal to climb The Diamond of Longs Peak, for example.

The Access Fund effectively represents climbers on many fronts, which is why there are now more than 10,000 members.

Its latest stewardship program is the Conservation Team, sponsored by Jeep. Two Access Fund staff members now travel the country in their Jeep Patriot 10 months of the year, improving climbing access trails and helping climbers and land managers create long-term stewardship plans for their local crags. The Conservation Team completed eight projects from Kentucky to California in its first two months on the road.

Through the eyes of climbers and other recreational groups, America doesn't always feel like the land of the free. That's why climbers are joining and supporting the Access Fund.

"Climbers are a new voice at the table for conservation and recreation," Robinson said. "We're helping shape the agenda, and it has implications not just for climbers, but for anybody who wants to recreate on public land."

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